Extract text from RC files
To convert your RC file to another format, you need Microsoft Visual Studio or other Developer software.
To convert other file formats to the "Source Code" file type, you need software like Microsoft Visual Studio or a similar tool.
A .RC file is predominantly a Windows Resource Script, a plain text source file used in Windows software development. These scripts define the structure and location of application resources - such as dialog boxes, menus, icons, cursors, and string tables - that are eventually embedded into the software's user interface. While readable in a text editor, a .RC file is functionally incomplete on its own; it serves as a blueprint that must be compiled using the Windows Resource Compiler (rc.exe) into a binary RES file before it can be linked into a final executable (EXE or DLL).
A common frustration for users is that .RC files are code, not the actual assets; you cannot simply "open" a .rc file to see the final graphical dialog or icon as it would appear in the app without using heavy IDEs like Microsoft Visual Studio. Additionally, in the mobile world, .RC files function as Android Initialization Scripts (e.g., init.rc), which configure system services during the Android boot process. These are critical for system modders but differ entirely in syntax from the Windows variant. For general archiving or documentation, converting .RC to TXT or PDF allows for easy reading without development tools, while developers often need to convert/compile them to RES for building applications.
Convert.Guru analyzes your RC file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
Users also converted RCFILE1, RCMR, RES, RCDX, JPG, PDF, RCC, ICO, TXT, ODG, GP, PNG and BIN files.
If you want to convert RC file to RB, JS, TS, PY, JAVA, CPP, C, CS, PHP, GO, RS or SWIFT, you can use Microsoft Visual Studio or similar software from the "Windows Resource Script" category. In the File menu, look for Save As… or Export….
To convert SH, PY, KT, PS1, SWIFT, LUA, PL, JAVA, SCALA, JS, VBS or TS files to RC, try Microsoft Visual Studio or another comparable tool in the "Windows Resource Script" category.
The history of Convert.Guru began over 25 years ago in California with Tom Simondi’s file-format database. A former contributor to Space Shuttle development and a software pioneer of the 1980s, Simondi established a trusted resource for file type analysis that was even referenced by Microsoft Windows XP. Today, we use modern technology to process and convert thousands of file formats while continually improving our RC converter.